Location, Home, Rupture: Punjabi Migrant Women’s Quest for Independence

Based on interview material with young Punjabi women migrants in the Emilia Romagna region in northern Italy, this article emphasises the importance of location and space in shaping women’s agency. I argue that place is not a mere geographic space, but a process constructed by gender and identity. Focusing on the home as the significant safe space of migrant women’s lives, the article argues that rupture in the home, due to a breakdown in marital relations, entails a movement away from that safe space of the home. This movement is characterised by trauma, trepidation and courage in seeking an independent life. The role of the larger family, community, and welfare services is indispensable in this process. This is borne out through the narratives of three women, one in rural Punjab in India, and the others in northern Italy. The article concludes with an effort to understand how agency plays out in the most difficult of circumstances, with familial and state support.